Wednesday, June 27, 2012

“What’s wrong at CNN?” reads a headline on Politico.com (June 26, 2012). Once the dominant cable news network, Ted
Turner’s creation has fallen behind its rivals in the Nielsen ratings. Outflanked by the Internet and opinion-driven
journalism, CNN’s decline tracks the evolution of the American media over the
last quarter-century.

Started by Turner in 1980, CNN gradually grew in importance as the
decade progressed. As more and more
Americans subscribed to cable, a larger audience began to watch the original
24-hour news network. Most CNN programs
aired straight news, though the network also pioneered the shouting matches
that dominate cable today, with debate shows like “Crossfire” and “The Capital
Gang.”

The 1990-91 Persian Gulf War gave the network its biggest boost into the
mainstream. CNN’s reporters stayed in
Iraq when the Allied air campaign began, as lead anchor Bernard Shaw and his
colleagues reported the start of the conflict from the Al Rasheed Hotel in
Baghdad. While contemporaries called Vietnam
the “living room war,” the Gulf War was the first 24-hour television war, as
Americans could watch the entire campaign all day and all night. No longer did viewers have to wait for the
anchors at ABC, NBC, and CBS to deliver the news at the dinner hour.

While CNN’s coverage of the war was an impressive journalistic
achievement, the network’s coverage of the O.J. Simpson case in 1994-95 boosted
its audience in a less edifying manner.
From the infamous white Bronco chase in June 1994 to the jury’s
controversial not guilty verdict in October 1995, CNN documented every aspect of
the case. Though CNBC and the major
networks also covered the case, it was CNN that led the way.

Though no one could have anticipated it, the seeds of CNN’s decline were
laid at that time. The commercial
success of the trial coverage showed that a channel could get an audience to
follow one story for an extended time with high ratings. It seems like more than mere coincidence that
MSNBC and Fox News debuted a mere year after the trial in 1996. Furthermore, the Internet started to become a
staple of homes and offices in the mid-1990s, with more Americans receiving
their news online.

In retrospect, CNN’s fall from its perch at the top of cable news came very
quickly. Fox appealed to conservatives
who had been distrustful of the “mainstream media” since the Nixon Administration’s
attacks on liberal press bias during the Vietnam era. Indeed, some Republicans took to calling CNN
“Clinton News Network” during the 1990s.
By 2002, Fox surpassed CNN as the #1 cable news network.

MSNBC’s climb was more difficult as it struggled to find its identity
for its first decade. It may be hard to believe
today, but conservatives such as Alan Keyes and (gulp) Michael Savage once
hosted programs on the network, as the corporate hierarchy tried to figure out
its niche. Led by Keith Olbermann’s
“Countdown” and Chris Matthews' return to liberalism on “Hardball,” MSNBC redefined
itself as a voice for progressives during George W. Bush’s second term. Today, its prime-time ratings often exceed
CNN’s, particularly among the all-important younger watchers.

While MSNBC and Fox News might seem completely different in every
respect, they are both products of the rise of the Internet. Most news-consuming Americans know the major
events of the day by the time they get home and have little need to watch the
network evening news or cable for such basic information. Instead, viewers want to see pundits debating
the issues of the time in an entertaining way and the newer networks have
cornered that market. Ironic given that
CNN helped pioneer this format with “Crossfire.” Now it is simply all “Crossfire,” all the
time.

Though CNN’s ratings have fallen to their lowest ebb since its Gulf War breakout,
the network still garners a huge boost during major news events like the Japanese
tsunami or Egyptian revolution. It had
the highest audience of any cable network on election night 2008 (“What’s wrong
at CNN?”). Nevertheless, CNN has yet to
find a way to consistently prosper in the 21st century and is
rapidly becoming as irrelevant as the evening news.

Monday, June 25, 2012

I just finished watching Aaron Sorkin’s HBO series “The Newsroom” and
all I can do is paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, “I knew the West Wing…The West Wing was a
great show…The Newsroom, you’re no “West Wing.”
Despite is glaring weaknesses, notably the rather hoary nature of the
dialogue, “The Newsroom” reveals important issues regarding the nature of
television news and the media today.

Jeff Daniels plays Will McAvoy, a news anchor successfully appealing to
a mass audience, an increasingly difficult prospect in a media age where people
consume news through sources aimed at ideological niches. To do so, however, his show is extremely
careful not to offend, and he is twice mocked for being the newsman equivalent
of Jay Leno. Paired with a typical
liberal and conservative at a college discussion panel reminiscent of so many
cable programs today, he first tries to avoid making any comments that would
draw any controversy. After being pushed
by a moderator to answer a student who asked, “Why is America the greatest
country in the world? “ McAvoy lists all
the ways the U.S. is behind other countries in various indices, declaring that
we are no longer the greatest nation on the planet, even though we were at one
point, listing all of the country’s previous accomplishments. Many reviewers have compared this speech to
Howard Beale’s famous meltdown in “Network,” (1976) where Beale declares “I’m
mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” To me, however, it was more
reminiscent of similar progressive calls to arms by Sorkin characters such as Michael
Douglas’ President Andrew Shepard in “The American President” (1995) and Martin
Sheen’s President Jed Bartlett in the “West Wing” (1999-2006).

After taking a vacation following his outburst, McAvoy’s boss (Sam
Waterston) hires a new producer for his show, who also happens to be his
ex-girlfriend. When she tells McAvoy
they can deliver a high quality program that will attain strong ratings even
though “people choose the news they want now,” McAvoy disagrees, responding that “people
choose the facts they want now,” citing studies suggesting the country is as
divided as it has been since the Civil War.
She imagines a broadcast that doesn’t aim for a “demographic sweet
spot,” but is instead “a place where we all come together,” reflecting
nostalgia for the time when the Big Three networks dominated the landscape.

Of course, the two of them are discussing the rise of partisan media in
recent years, notably MSNBC and Fox News.
No doubt the emergence of these networks reflects and sustains some of
the political divisions in our society, as many Americans have their views
reinforced rather than challenged. But
this is not the first time in our history that we have faced this situation. In fact, our era is very similar to the Gilded
Age of the late 19th century, when Americans read party newspapers
rather than independent journalism. This
period, like our own, was also marked by strong partisan attachments and a series
of close elections between Democrats and Republicans, including 1888, when
incumbent Grover Cleveland won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College and
the presidency to Benjamin Harrison (sound familiar?) Incidentally, there was
also a yawning gap between rich and poor during this time as well.

The show glorifies a bygone age of television journalism, starting with images
of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite during the opening credits. One of the few delights of “The Newsroom” is Waterston’s
performance (nice to see him in something besides “Law and Order”!). In one of several long soliloquies during
the show, Waterston sermonizes, ”Anchors having an opinion isn’t a new
phenomenon. Murrow had one and that was
the end of McCarthy. Cronkite had one and that was the end of Vietnam.” I realize Sorkin is not aiming for historical
accuracy, but this exaggerates the media’s role in history. Murrow’s “See It Now“ programs on McCarthy
came as “Tailgunner Joe’s” influence was already on the wane while Cronkite’s
editorial against Vietnam reflected declining public support for the war rather
than precipitating a turn against the conflict.
See http://popculturemeetshistory.blogspot.com/2012/05/0-0-1-741-4229-university-of.html

The pilot takes place during the 2010 BP oil spill and McAvoy’s new
staff does a heroic job of exposing the inadequate government regulation that created
the conditions for the disaster. Similar
to a scene from “Broadcast News” (1987) where William Hurt’s character adroitly
covers breaking news with help from producer Holly Hunter, McAvoy explains the
spill to the country with help from his ex.
In this sense, “The Newsroom” comes across as a bit anachronistic. The move to opinion programing has come
because the audience already knows what happened by the time the evening news
airs. As David Carr wrote in today’s New
York Times (6-25-2102), this is a primary reason for CNN’s declining
ratings.

Perhaps the show will improve in the coming episodes, but the premiere
was very weak. I usually enjoy Sorkin’s
highly intelligent dialogue, but it seemed extremely forced in this episode. Unlike the great chemistry between the actors
on the “West Wing,” the interactions among the “The Newsroom” cast appear awkward. I’m afraid that’s the way it is.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

As we begin the wait for the next “Mad Men” season, I have a few
thoughts regarding the events that will shape it.Though Matt Weiner has frequently noted that
the show is not a history lesson, it is very likely that season six will take
place in 1968, as it would be surprising to produce a show about the 1960s and
omit its most eventful year.While we
can’t anticipate the personal challenges that await Don Draper and the other
characters, we do know the major historical events that are to follow.

Vietnam took center stage at the outset of the fateful year.Throughout the fall of 1967, the Johnson Administration
repeatedly suggested the U.S. military was making progress against the Viet Cong
and North Vietnamese Army and that the nation could see “the light at the end
of the tunnel.”The communist allies,
however, punctured this optimism when they launched a massive attack in January
1968 called the Tet Offensive.Though
the U.S. military eventually repelled it, the communists’ ability to launch a
nationwide attack weakened public support for the war and destroyed Johnson’s remaining
credibility.

In the aftermath of Tet, Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota garnered
42 percent of the vote running as an anti-war candidate against Johnson in the
New Hampshire primary.Though McCarthy
lost, his strong performance revealed how much the war had weakened LBJ.Robert Kennedy, who had been the first choice
of the anti-war forces, then entered the race, setting off one of the most
dramatic primary battles in American history.With his popularity crumbling, Johnson announced that he would not seek
re-election on March 31.

A week later, James Early Ray assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. in
Memphis, Tennessee.King had been preparing
for his Poor People’s Campaign, which was to include a march on Washington D.C.
to demand greater funding for anti-poverty programs, which had been diminished
by the diversion of resources to the war.In accordance with his new emphasis on economic inequality, King
accepted an invitation to support the sanitation strike in Memphis, where garbage
workers were fighting for better pay and work conditions.After his assassination, riots broke out in
125 cities across the country, adding to the national sense of disorder.

RFK and McCarthy continued to battle it out in the Democratic primaries.Echoing the 2008 race between Hilary Clinton
and Barack Obama, RFK’s support came largely from blue-collar whites while
McCarthy’s backing came primarily from upscale constituencies.Many viewed Kennedy as the only person who
could still speak to both sides of the cultural divide in America, as he
retained credibility with working-class whites as well as minorities.After winning the crucial California primary over
McCarthy on June 6, RFK was shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles.

Even if Kennedy had lived, he would have faced an uphill battle to win the
Democratic nomination.At this time,
only a small number of delegates were allocated through primaries and caucuses,
as party officials still controlled the nominating process.Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, the choice of
the establishment, was virtually certain to win the nomination.

With no real possibility of an anti-war nominee, the radical faction of
the peace movement mobilized to protest at the 1968 Democratic convention in
Chicago.Mayor Richard Daley and the
city government refused to provide marching permits and confrontations with the
local police ensued.Eventually, police
and the protesters squared off outside the convention hall and a national
television audience watched the cops use tear gas and violence against the
militants.Humphrey received the
nomination inside, but it was clear the violence outside had seriously damaged
his candidacy.

The fall campaign witnessed a presidential race between Humphrey,
Republican nominee Richard Nixon, and the independent candidacy of Alabama Governor
George Wallace.Both Nixon and Wallace
campaigned strongly on the theme of “law and order,” declaring they would clamp
down on rising crime, urban riots, and anti-war demonstrators.As I pointed out in a previous post, it is
important to remember than many Americans disdained and resisted the social
changes of the 1960s.See http://popculturemeetshistory.blogspot.com/2012/03/mad-men-season-5-premiere-part-2.html

Well behind at the outset of the general election campaign, Humphrey
began to gain traction in September after he made a speech calling for more
aggressive action to achieve peace in Vietnam, distancing himself from the
unpopular Johnson.His campaign started
to reduce Nixon’s lead, particularly as labor unions worked to move frustrated
blue-collar voters away from supporting Wallace and back into their traditional
home in the Democratic Party.In the
end, though, Nixon edged out Humphrey for a narrow victory in the November
election.

The year ended on an upbeat note as Apollo 8, the first spacecraft to
orbit the moon, sent back incredible images of Earth on Christmas Eve.Nevertheless, 1968 was a turbulent and
divisive year and its repercussions would echo for decades to come.It will be interesting to see how Don, Peggy,
Joan, and Roger navigate its travails.

Monday, June 18, 2012

After watching the first two “Alien” films again last week, I was very
excited to see their prequel, “Prometheus.”Unfortunately, the Ridley Scott-directed movie turned out to be a major
disappointment, particularly after an engaging first hour (SPOILERS TO FOLLOW).

The film delves into the origins of the villainous “Company,” which
manipulated the events that led to Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the
Nostromo reaching the planet where the murderous alien is discovered in the original
film.In “Prometheus,” “Company” founder
Peter Weyland bankrolls the voyage of two scientists who believe they have
discovered the extraterrestrial origins of life on Earth.Unlike the first two films, profit is not the
company’s motive; instead, the dying Weyland hopes that finding humanity’s creators
will help him extend his life.

The composition of the Prometheus’ crew reflects the growing openness of
American society since the 1970s.Whereas the original ship featured a multicultural crew with minorities
and women in supporting roles, an African American man captains the Prometheus
and Weyland’s daughter, Meredith Vickers, supervises him (a bizarrely underused
Charlize Theron).This evolution reflects
the election of Barack Obama as well as the emergence of female leaders such as
Madeleine Albright, Condi Rice and Hilary Clinton. The idea of an African-American
president with a female Secretary of State would have seemed like science
fiction in 1979, but is reality today.

Co-written by “Lost” show runner Damon Lindelof, the movie echoes the
conflicts between faith and science that marked the show.The lead female character, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw
(a possible homage to a character from the original “Doctor Who”), struggles
with reconciling her religion with the disastrous events on the planet.Shaw is contrasted with the unemotional
rationality of android David (a possible homage to “2001”), just as John Locke and
Jack Shepard argued the same debate on “Lost.” “Prometheus,” like “Lost,” asks
many questions without offering its audience clear answers, although the door
for a sequel to wrap things up is left wide open. With “Prometheus’” open-ended
conclusion, it is as if “Lost” had ended following the airing of its pilot.

Though the film had great promise, I can’t really recommend it.Wait for cable or Redbox.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

With dramatically higher television ratings over the past two seasons,
the National Basketball Association (NBA) seems to have finally emerged from the
stagnation of the post-Michael Jordan era.
After two decades of meteoric growth during the 1980s and 90s, the
league’s popularity stalled in the first years of the 21st
century. A new group of players,
including LeBron James and Kevin Durant, are now propelling basketball back to near
the top of the sports universe.

During its infancy in the 1950s, the NBA represented a minor part of the
sports landscape, largely based in small and medium-sized cities such as
Syracuse and Fort Wayne. By the 1960s,
the rivalry between big men Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain moved the league
to center stage. The league stalled,
however, in the 1970s, as a paucity of exciting players and an association with
drugs damaged the NBA’s image. As the
Reagan era dawned, the networks aired the NBA finals on tape delay and many
franchises faced serious financial trouble.

The entrance of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird into the league in 1979,
along with the continued greatness of Julius “Dr. J” Erving, brought basketball
back to life in the 1980s, as the rivalry between Magic’s Celtics and Bird’s
Lakers produced tremendous drama and high fan interest. By the end of the 1980s, the NBA was reaching
parity with the NFL and major league baseball.

As Magic and Bird passed from the scene in the early ‘90s, the Chicago
Bulls’ Michael Jordan took the league to unprecedented heights. A once in a generation draw, Jordan became an
international star that transcended barriers in the U.S. and around the world. He buoyed the entire sport as the excitement
surrounding the 1992 U.S. Olympic “Dream Team,” a collection of the best
professional players in the US, showed that the biggest individual stars in
American sports were basketball players.
Due to his star power, the NBA finals finally achieved ratings higher
than the World Series during MJ’s last appearance in 1998.

Following Jordan’s second retirement that year, the league’s growth
slowed. No player emerged to fill the
vacuum left by Jordan’s departure and ratings fell significantly. Defense ruled and low-scoring games, while
they might demonstrate skill, did not draw fans in the same numbers. The next generation of stars, such as Philadelphia’s
Allen Iverson, did not seem to resonate with casual fans, perhaps due to their
association with the growing hip-hop culture.
The success of small-market franchises like the San Antonio Spurs, which
won four titles in the post-MJ era, failed to stimulate the interest of the
nation. Even when the Spurs and their
low-key star Tim Duncan played against “next Jordan” LeBron James and his
Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007 finals, the matchup drew all-time low ratings.

The last four years, though, have witnessed a renaissance for the league.
The re-emergence of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry provided a boost, as the two
teams faced off in the 2008 and 2010 Finals.
The Game 7 between the two historic franchises in 2010 drew the highest
ratings for any game since Jordan’s last NBA Finals game in 1998.

The real break for the league, however, came when LeBron James announced
his intention to leave Cleveland for Miami to join fellow stars Dwayne Wade and
Chris Bosh in a highly publicized ESPN broadcast. The resulting backlash against the primetime
program, “The Decision,” as well as the self-congratulatory celebration the
“Big Three” held upon arriving in Miami, have made the Heat a nonstop reality
show worthy of “American Idol“ for the last two seasons.

The “Heatles” became the most hated team in professional sports, buoying
the league in general, with the NBA experiencing a huge increase in television
ratings during the 2010-11 campaign.
Despite the lockout, the league has sustained the momentum through this
season as the Eastern Conference Finals matchup between Boston and Miami
featured the three highest rated NBA games ever on ESPN. Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Heat and
Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder drew the highest ratings for an opening
game in at least a decade.

Though no player will likely ever equal Jordan’s star power, it’s
possible that a James-Durant rivalry could match the Bird-Magic battles of the
1980s. After a decade of middling
success, the NBA is in the midst of another boom period.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

With “Prometheus,” the prequel to the “Alien” franchise, debuting in
theatres last week, I decided to watch the first two films again. Having not seen the original in many years, I
was struck by how well Ridley Scott’s original film has aged. James Cameron’s sequel “Aliens” holds up as
well, though I might be inclined to see the first as the superior film now.

Released in 1979, “Alien” is clearly influenced by the zeitgeist of 70s
cinema. Premiering two years after “Star
Wars,” the movie taps into the Apollo-era interest in space exploration(http://popculturemeetshistory.blogspot.com/2012/03/50th-anniversary-of-john-glenns-flight.html. Unlike its sequel, “Aliens,” (1986) which was
more of a traditional action film, the original is a “Jaws,”-like suspense
movie, as we rarely have a clear view of the monster, just as we rarely got a
full view of the shark.

A post-civil rights era film, the crew of the Nostromo, the space
freighter in the movie, reflects the diversity of the period with its mix of
whites, blacks, and women. After the
emergence of a vibrant woman’s movement in the 1970s, sci-fi/fantasy films
featured feminist heroines like “Star Wars’” Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), “Superman’s”
Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), and “Raiders of the Lost Ark’s” Marion Ravenwood (Karen
Allen). These characters seemed a bit
forced, often exhibiting an aggressiveness that sometimes bordered on excessive
to demonstrate their strength. Sigourney
Weaver’s Ellen Ripley, the lead character in “Alien,” is the most subtle and
layered of these characters. “Alien”
launched Weaver’s career and Ripley became the lead in the three sequels,
making it the first film franchise headlined by a woman.

In the aftermath of Vietnam, Watergate, and the exposure of the misdeeds
of American intelligence agencies, distrust of government grew and conspiracies
became a central element of 1970s movies such as “The Conversation (1974),”
“The Parallax View (1974),” and of course, “All The President’s Men (1976).” “Alien” is no exception, as the amorphous
“Company” sends the Nostromo to investigate a mysterious signal on another
planet, using the crew as as bait to find the dangerous alien, with hopes to
bringing it back for its weapon division.
“The Company” deemed the Ripley and her comrades “expendable” and its chicanery would continue
into the sequels. It represents
nefarious corporate interests and/or the CIA (often referred to as the “Company”),
whose excesses were exposed by the media and the congressional Church Committee
in the mid-1970s.

Though “Aliens” maintains some of the claustrophobic horror of the
original, it is more of a conventional action movie. After drifting in suspended animation in space
for 57 years, Ripley is revived and accompanies a group of futuristic Marines
back to the planet. Opening at the same
time as 1980s action franchises like “Rambo,” Reagan-era Ripley becomes a
full-scale action hero by the end of the film, fighting the aliens with
high-tech weaponry, as opposed to simply evading them as she did in the
original. Directed by James Cameron,
“Aliens” is very similar to his “Avatar,” (2009) with the alien/military
backdrop and insatiable corporate demands for profit. Grace Augustine, the scientist played by Weaver in “Avatar,” strikes me as an older version of Ellen Ripley.

Given the mediocrity of the last two films, “Alien 3” (1992) and “Alien
Resurrection,”(1997) the franchise has been somewhat forgotten. As a result, the ads for “Prometheus” made the
film sound like something fresh and new, rather than linking it to the older
movies. I’ll try to catch “Prometheus”
this weekend and report back.

Monday, June 11, 2012

“Dallas” returns to television this week on TNT, another reminder of the
passing of the power of the Big 3 networks.
Back in the late 70s and early 80s, the story of the Ewing clan
dominated primetime as millions of people turned in to CBS every week to find what
happened to J.R., Sue Ellen, Bobby, and a bunch of other characters I can’t
remember. In an era before VCRs, DVDs,
and DVRs, viewers had to watch every episode in real time.

After the OPEC oil embargo of 1973, gas prices skyrocketed and lines at
the pump became one of the iconic images of the Me Decade. As a result, domestic drilling increased and money
flowed into Texas, particularly to Houston and Dallas. Debuting in 1978, the soap opera about the
fictional Ewings and their oil company became the most popular program on
television. Airing on Fridays, a night
the networks have long since abandoned, “Dallas” became the #1 show in the
ratings by the early 1980s.

The show achieved its greatest prominence in 1980, when “Dallas”
featured the most talked about cliffhanger in the history of television. In the season finale, an unknown assailant
shot J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), the program’s iconic lead (and villain) and the
nation debated “Who shot J.R.?” all summer.
Before cable, this question consumed the country in a way no television
mystery has since, including ”Who killed Laura Palmer?” (“Twin Peaks”) or “Will
Picard remain a Borg?”(“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) or any one of the
season finales of “Lost.” The fourth episode of the next season, where everyone discovered that J.R.’s secretary was the
culprit, became the most watched program in television history at the time, as
76 percent of televisions in use tuned in (record was later surpassed by the
final episode of “M.A.S.H.”)

The show spawned a series of prime-time soaps that dotted the TV
landscape, including its spinoff “Knots Landing” and “Falcon Crest.” “Dynasty” emerged
as the most successful of the imitators, battling “Dallas” for the #1 Nielsen
spot during the mid-1980s. Like its
rival, “Dynasty” focused on a family in the oil business, the Carringtons, based
in Denver.

Ironically, “Dallas” began to show its age at the same time oil prices
collapsed in the mid-80s. When Patrick
Duffy, who played J.R’s good guy brother Bobby, wanted to leave the show in
season seven, his character was killed off in a car crash. Unhappy with the direction of the show during
the next season, Hagman wanted to bring Duffy back. To accomplish this end, the show runners decided
to make the previous season a dream, with Bobby’s wife Pam waking up to see Bobby
emerge from the shower in the season eight finale. Depending on your perspective, it was either
a classic or infamous television moment and I dare say an audience would not
accept such a scenario today. (one of the print ads for the revived “Dallas,”
which includes some of the old cast, pays homage to the twist)

Gradually, the other soaps aged as well.
“Dynasty” was never the same after a spectacular season finale where
terrorists attacked a wedding, riddling the Carringtons and their guests with
bullets, only to have virtually everyone survive unharmed the next fall. Meanwhile, the broadcast networks revived the
sitcom, which had been proclaimed dead in the early 1980s, with “The Cosby Show,” “Cheers,” and other shows leading
the Nielsen standings. “Dallas” and
“Dynasty” limped on, remaining on the air until the early 1990s, albeit with
lower ratings than during their respective primes.

While the prime-time soaps disappeared, they left a significant
legacy. With their multiple plots within
episodes and across seasons, they laid the groundwork for the serialized shows
that have dominated the landscape in recent years, such as “ER,” “24,” and “Mad Men.” Though several of the original actors,
including Hagman and Duffy, are returning in significant roles, the revived
“Dallas” will never match the success of the original network version; audiences
simply have too many entertainment options today. Nevertheless, it is remarkable that J.R.
Ewing is still alive and kicking three decades after his shooting gripped the
nation.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

The final episode of season five, which occurred in 1966-67, brought
together major themes from the previous episodes as well as the first four
seasons, with each character alternatively frustrated by and/or challenging the
barriers in America in the 1960s.By the
end of “The Phantom,” “Mad Men” seems to be preparing the audience for the turmoil
to follow in 1968.

As I noted in my post on episode five, ”Signal 30,” Pete is extremely depressed
by his new suburban lifestyle in Connecticut.His only solace comes from a brief affair with the spouse of a fellow
commuter. When his wife, Trudy, shows
him the drawing of the suburban swimming pool she is planning for their home’s backyard,
it only fills him with more dread about the permanence of his move out of New
York City.After coming home injured
following a fight on the train with the husband of his “mistress,” he tells
Trudy that he crashed his car.Fearful
for his safety, she succumbs to his earlier demand for a supplemental apartment
in Manhattan.Desperate for any return
to the urban lifestyle, Pete represents the stereotypical unhappy suburbanite
of the postwar migration out of the cities.

Megan’s disgust with Don’s persistent lack of support for her acting
dreams reaches fruition when he refuses to help her get an audition for a
client’s commercial, even though she tells him she would still “be home by
dinner.”After engaging in Don-like drinking
exploits, she tells him that he just wants her to be waiting for him at the end
of the day.Just as he could not accept
Betty’s modeling, Draper remains hard-pressed to accept a relationship with a
career woman, clearly frightened by the possibility of female independence.Despite his occasional chivalry, such as his
emphatic rejection of the idea of using Joan to acquire an account in “The
Other Woman,” he still clings to a traditional, pre-second wave feminist view
of a women’s place in the world.

This dynamic could also be viewed in Don’s random encounter with Peggy
at a movie theater.Though he claims to
be proud of her success, Don has a hard time reconciling her moving forward
professionally without him.“That’s what
happens when you help someone, they succeed and move on,” he says to her wistfully,
clearly afraid the same will happen if Megan achieves her ambitions.

Meanwhile, Peggy’s progress continues to symbolize the journey of
American women into the workplace in the postwar period.Having begun as a secretary in the show’s pilot,
she became a copywriter in season one and now has supervisory authority of her
own at the new firm.She seems
almost-Don like at her new position, dressing down her charges for weak work.

As the season concludes, Don yields to Megan’s request and she wins the
role.While we see her and others in
bright colors on the set of the commercial, Draper still remains the “Man in
the Grey Flannel Suit,” walking away in dark colors, symbolizing his distance
from the evolving America of the 1960s.It appears his holiday from philandering may be at an end, just as one
of the most divisive and eventful years in American history is about to start.Can’t wait for season six.